Helping Ukrainians: Charity shops making a difference

Link to Hope calls on the communities of Worthing, Goring, Ferring, Littlehampton and Rustlington to use its five charity shops to help sustainably fund refugee centres and long-standing humanitarian projects in Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.

Stories from Link to Hope’s project managers as they help refugees provide them with a glimmer of hope after the horrors of Putin’s invasion.

The charity is raising funds online and through its shops and is keen to share news from the projects. Workers on the ground have sent stories of how the public’s generosity and Link to Hope’s responsiveness are helping Ukrainian refugees to:

1) Escape Ukraine and reach its centres in Romania and Moldova.

2) Receive the food, bedding, clothes, medicines, toiletries and counselling they need at the centres.

Furthermore, the charity is buying locally sourced resources from bordering countries and sending them into Ukraine to help those who have chosen to stay, or who are trapped.

Moldova is a poverty-stricken country, yet those helping in its refugee centres demonstrate selfless generosity. In mid-March Pastor Ion, who works in Bozieni, Moldova, explained that his team can look after a refugee for less than £9 per day. The refugees include new-born babies.

The centres run from hand to mouth. Link to Hope has just sent Pastor Ion the £2,000 he needs to resource the next 10 days.

Yesterday we heard from Pastor Slavic in Dancu, Moldova. He has been working from the early hours of the morning until after midnight each day, finding accommodation and caring for Ukrainian refugees as they arrive. He described the scene at the border between Moldova and Romania:

“There were convoys of buses… Many pulled up in cars too … almost exclusively women and children. It was good to see that these people are safe now, but at the same time it is heart-breaking to see everyone looking so sad and hopeless, because they have no idea where they will go.”

Romanian drivers in these convoys said that they have been helping Ukrainians to leave their country for a while, but soon the refugee accommodation projects they are helping in Romania will be full.

Pastor Slavic also described how one car arrived at the border. It was carrying a family with seven hungry children, and the parents had nowhere to go. The pastor and his team of volunteers are helping everyone to find a safe place. 

Link to Hope has also heard from Pete, who drives from Romania into Ukraine with supplies and returns with refugees, particularly children with disabilities. Accommodation is becoming scarce, so some of the funds Link to Hope has raised have been used to pay for shelter, fuel and food.

By using donating second-hand but saleable goods to Link to Hope’s charity shops, and by shopping in them, you can directly help these projects – and many more like them. Alternatively, if you would like to help with the immediate needs by donating online, please visit https://linktohope.co.uk/campaigns/donate-to-the-ukraine/